1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to teaching aids, and in particular to a puzzle which is useful in helping a student to memorize written passages and supplemental information associated therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
Jigsaw puzzles are well known in the toy and hobby arts. These puzzles generally consist of a flat puzzle body which is cut into a plurality of uniquely shaped and selectively interlocking puzzle pieces. The top face of the puzzle body includes a photograph, design or other pictorial image. The object of the puzzle is to assemble the puzzle body from the individual puzzle pieces using the pictorial image as a guide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,533 to Hopkins et al. discloses a variation on the jigsaw puzzle for use in a lottery game. The game includes a puzzle board having multiple pictorial images with demarcations showing where individual puzzle pieces are to be placed. The game further includes a set of lottery tickets which are individually purchased by a player. Each ticket has a plurality of puzzle pieces removably attached thereto which are each to be placed on the puzzle board over one of the pictorial images. Each puzzle piece has a front face which is printed with a portion of one of the pictorial images. By matching the images, the player can determine which pictorial image each puzzle piece corresponds to and where to place each piece on the respective pictorial image. The player wins a prize when one or more of the pictorial images is completely covered by the correct puzzle pieces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,512 to Burke discloses a puzzle used in combination with a story book. Each page of the story book includes text and a respective illustration. Each piece of the puzzle has a duplicate of a respective illustration from the book printed on one side and a portion of a pictorial image on the other side. The puzzle pieces interlock consecutively in the order in which the illustrations appear in the book to complete the pictorial image.
Puzzles of the jigsaw type, i.e. puzzles with flat interlocking pieces, have also been designed for educational purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 3,333,351 to Williams discloses a puzzle with interlocking pieces for teaching sentence structure. Each piece has a word printed thereon and is shaped such that the pieces can only be connected to form a sentence when correct sentence structure is used. U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,741 discloses a math puzzle. The puzzle pieces include a beginning piece having a portion of at least one mathematical expression printed thereon. Each adjoining piece extends the expression started on the beginning piece.
The present invention is a teaching puzzle designed to help a student memorize written passages and relationships between the written passage and supplemental information relating to that passage. For example, the puzzle can be used to help a student memorize bible verses, the broad concepts to which certain verses relate, and the chapter and verse designations of those verses.
The puzzle includes a book and a game board which are used in combination. Each page of the book deals with a particular subject and is printed with a passage which relates to that subject. A keyword identifying the relevant subject is highlighted in the passage. The page may also include a definition of the keyword. Removably attached to each page is a respective puzzle piece. Each puzzle piece has the respective keyword printed on its front side. A respective piece of supplemental information significant to the passage is printed on the back side of the puzzle piece.
The game board has a display area sized to receive the assembled puzzle. The display area is divided into a plurality of piece receiving portions, each of which corresponds to one of the puzzle pieces. Each piece receiving portion is marked with the same supplemental information as the back side of the respective puzzle piece.
In use, the student reads a passage with emphasis on the keyword. The student will then attempt to memorize the passage and the keyword to which it relates. The student will then remove the respective puzzle piece from the page. In doing so, the student will examine the keyword on the front side of the piece and the supplemental information on the back side of the piece. The student then looks for the piece receiving portion of the display area which bears the same supplemental information as the puzzle piece. This reinforces the connection between the keyword and the supplemental information. The student then places the piece on the board over the respective piece receiving portion.
It is intended that by repeated use of the teaching puzzle, the student will memorize the passages, learn which passages relate to which subjects, and be able to identify the passage by its supplemental information.